People have all sorts of theories about Linked IN. Some believe you should only connect with colleagues that you've worked with. Some think that you should know people that you connect with well.

I run a policy that if it is good enough for me to give you my business card, it is good enough for me to connect with you on Linked IN.

When you connected to someone on linked in you have much greater control over the access they have to you than if they have your business card. So it is better to just link than exchange business cards.

So what happens if you get a stranger connected to you on linked in? Nothing bad does. I've been asked for references for people that are connected to me. I declined to give a reference if I don't know them. I had some people email me newsletters I didn't request. I politely asked them to stop. You can't ask a true spammer to stop spamming you, can you? You can on Linked IN!

People tell me that if you have too many connections you can't keep up with all the updates. I find that I get all the updates just fine. Most people a reasonably inactive on Linked IN. I, myself, also find myself too busy to bother at times.

So if there are no negatives, are there benefits? Here are the benefits:

People that would normally fall off your radar will pop up in Linked IN every now and again and remind you of their existence. That can be very useful.

People will move jobs - you will be able to keep in touch

Linked IN is a great tool to find and profile organisations that you want to sell to, buy from or partner with

People's updates will keep you on top of the news in the industry

Most of the time I am reasonably active on Linked IN through Twitter. So, if you don't know me, Linked IN is a very good tool for you to get to now me. I can promise you, getting to know me will only benefit your business.